Some social media fails are almost unfair, or may have been avoided had the die rolled the other way. Others are just bad ideas to begin with.

The latest from Singapore Airlines falls firmly into the latter category.

Tasteless timing

Following last week's downing of Malaysian Airlines MH17, there was much speculation about why the ill-fated plane was flying over Ukrainian airspace. 

Soon enough questions began to be asked about what other airlines used the airspace as a route between Europe and Asia.

Hours after the tragedy Singapore Airlines took to Facebook and Twitter to announce its flights were not using that airspace.

Here's the offending tweet from the Singapore Airlines' official Twitter account.

“Customers may wish to note that Singapore Airlines flights are not using Ukraine airspace.”

Auto pilot

User backlash was swift and scathing across both social networks, accusing the network of lacking sympathy for the victims and pulling a cheap publicity stunt.

To Singapore Airlines' credit it quickly responded, issuing the following statement:

“We are aware of that our Facebook and Twitter update on Friday morning may have come across as insensitive to some.”

It also tweeted:

“Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew of #MH17, and their families @MAS”. 

Not risking further user ire, the Twitter account was not active for several days after this tweet.

Learnings

This isn't the first time a brand has tried to leverage a tragedy, a play that never goes well.

The morning after the Boston Bombings food website Epicurious got into very hot water after suggesting the city's citizens might feel better after buying some Epicurious cranberry scones or energy breakfast cereal. Boston citizens did not agree.

The lesson here is simple: some things are bigger than marketing opportunities. When tragedy strikes, shut up.

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